Amendments required to schedules of the Contraventions Regulations regarding various regulations under the Fisheries Act

Enabling act(s): Contraventions Act, Fisheries Act

Description of the objective

Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) is proposing regulatory amendments to expand its use of ticketing for minor fisheries violations. Both the Contraventions Act and the Fisheries Act allow for tickets to be issued for minor fisheries violations, but ticketing is currently only in place in some regions for certain fisheries regulations. A minor fisheries offence that may be ticketed in one region may be prosecuted in another. In the interest of promoting greater consistency from region to region, DFO is seeking to expand and update the use of ticketing to cover minor fisheries offences for the following regulations:

DFO will work with Justice Canada to add fine schedules to the Contraventions Regulations, outlining the fines payable for various minor fisheries offences for both the commercial and recreational sectors. Updating and expanding the ticketing regime will lead to a reduction in fishery officer hours spent preparing for and appearing in court, as well as a reduction in prosecution costs. Ticketing will enable fishery officers as well as courts to focus on more serious offences and higher-priority files.

Indication of business impacts

The “One-for-One” Rule and the Small Business Lens do not apply as there are no administrative costs on small businesses.

Regulatory cooperation efforts (domestic and international)

This initiative is not under any formal regulatory cooperation work plan, but DFO has worked cooperatively with Justice Canada to develop a plan and move the file forward.

Public consultation opportunities

Two rounds of public consultations have been completed. The first consultation (September 1, 2017 to January 31, 2018) focused on the expansion of ticketing in broad terms, while the second consultation (November 28, 2018 to January 11, 2019) sought comments on specific violations proposed for ticketing and the associated fine amounts.

Further information

Departmental contact

Josee-Annie Verville
Chief, Enforcement Policy, Conservation and Protection Directorate
Telephone: 613-799-1283
Fax: 613-941-2718
Email: josee-annie.verville@dfo-mpo.gc.ca

Date the regulatory initiative was first included in the Forward Regulatory Plan: 2017

Date modified: